A qualitative study on Norwegian esports students' sleep, nutritional and physical activity habits and the link to health and performance

Aim: This study explored Norwegian esports students’ lifestyle perspectives and habits concerning health and esports performance. Methods and results: Twenty participants between 17 and 21 years of age studying esports were recruited from high schools and folk high schools. The participants were interviewed through Zoom using a semi-structured interview guide, and the data were analyzed using a thematical analysis approach. The emerging themes were: 1) energy and focus, 2) the impact of gaming and esports on sleep, and 3) mental health and lifestyle factors. Proper nutrition, sleep, and reduced intake of energy drinks was considered essential factors for optimal energy and focus. Although this was the consensus, many participants reported skipping breakfast, sub-optimal sleep patterns, and habitual consumption of energy drinks. The participants also reported that sleep was negatively affected by playing right up until bedtime. However, esports matches did not impair sleep due to the time of the day matches were played. Finally, regular physical activity was considered vital for good mental health. Conclusion: The participants acknowledged that proper nutrition, enough sleep, and regular physical activity were essential for optimal health and esports performance. However, many participants reported sub-optimal lifestyle habits, such as skipping breakfast, using blue light-emitting devices before bedtime, and consuming energy drinks. Future research should consider investigating the previously mentioned lifestyle factors to help the esports population develop strategies for improving health and in-game performance.publishedVersio

Different Caregiver, Different Collaboration

The quality of the collaboration between health professionals and caregivers is of great significance to outcome and recovery. Severe brain injuries after a stroke can leave patients unable to communicate their needs and wishes with health professionals, in which case the role of the caregiver(s) becomes even more important. This position is highly differentiated, and there are substantial variations in how caregivers participate in the collaboration. Using the Bourdieusian concept of cultural health capital, we aimed to develop a broader understanding of the role played by the patient’s caregiver and how inequality is produced in the encounter with professionals. This qualitative study was conducted from 2014 to 2018. We observed the meetings and interactions between caregivers and health professionals during patients’ neurorehabilitation after a stroke, and we interviewed caregivers and health professionals on their experiences during this period. Constructing three different caregiver types—the proactive, the persistent, and the deferential—we discovered different ways of interacting and different attitudes related to cultural health capital, which provided the caregiver with more or fewer opportunities to participate in a dialogue and negotiation on behalf of the patient

Relationships between exposure to different gambling advertising types, advertising impact and problem gambling

People with gambling problems report more exposure and impact from gambling advertising, although less is known regarding the role of specific advertising types. Data on gamblers (n = 5830, 48.5% women, mean age = 44.27) was collected from a general population cross-sectional survey in Norway (32.7% response rate). We examined if problem gambling was associated with perceived advertising impact (on gambling involvement, awareness, and knowledge) or exposure (via internet, TV, retail outlet, newspaper, and direct advertising). We also investigated if advertising exposure was associated with advertising impact. ANOVAs revealed that problem gambling was associated with increased perceived advertising impact on gambling involvement (ω2 = 0.09, p < .001) and awareness of gambling (ω2 = 0.04, p < .001). Reported exposure to direct advertising increased linearly with problem gambling level (ω2 = 0.04, p < .001), whereas we found small/no differences in exposure to other types of advertising. Multiple regressions revealed that among advertising types, internet advertising was the strongest predictor of perceived advertising impact on gambling involvement (β = 0.1, p < .001). TV advertising was the strongest predictor of advertising impact on knowledge of gambling forms and operators (β = 0.28, p < .001) and awareness of gambling (β = .05, p < .05). Future studies should elucidate how different subtypes of internet advertising impact gambling involvement. Clinicians should assess clients’ experiences with direct advertising and devise interventions for coping. Researchers should be aware that internet and direct advertising allow for more tailored content compared to other advertising types.publishedVersio

Demographical, personality, alcohol use, and mental health characteristics associated with different alcoholic beverage preferences among students

The study investigates correlates (i.e. demographics, personality, alcohol use and alcohol-related harm, alcohol expectancies, and mental health) of different alcoholic beverage preferences (i.e. beer/alcopops/cider, wine, and liquor/spirits). Data were collected by an online survey during fall 2016. Participants were invited to the survey based on participation in a former survey that was sent to students in Bergen, Norway, in fall 2015. The current sample consists of 5,217 participants. A multinomial regression analysis was conducted, where alcoholic beverage preferences comprised the dependent variable. Several correlates were associated with beverage preferences. For instance, being a woman and the personality trait conscientiousness were inversely related to a preference for beer/alcopops/cider while positively associated with a preference for wine. Preferences for wine or liquor/spirits were positively associated with depression and inversely related to anxiety. Conscientiousness as a personality trait might be a common factor in the relationship between wine preference and favourable health outcomes, and this trait should be controlled for in future studies. The current findings seem contrary to the assumed gender equality in Norway, where the strong association between sex and alcoholic beverage preferences suggests that traditional gender divisions prevail even in the current young and urban sample.publishedVersio

General and alcohol-related social media use and mental health: A large-sample longitudinal study

The current study aimed to investigate if general and alcohol-related social media use predicts symptoms of depression and anxiety. Students in Bergen, Norway, participated in a Web-based survey during fall 2015 (T1) and a follow-up survey during fall 2016 (T2). A total of 5217 participated in both surveys. Crude and adjusted linear regression analyses were conducted to investigate if social media use at T1 predicted depression and anxiety at T2. Several social media use variables (e.g., using Instagram) were positively associated with depression and anxiety over time, but these associations became non-significant when covariates were controlled for. Number of online friends was inversely related to depression whereas using Twitter was positively related to anxiety at T2, when covariates were controlled for. The effect sizes of the observed associations were all very small. The current study found little support for a relationship between social media use and mental health.publishedVersio

Problem gaming and suicidality: A systematic literature review

Background No studies have so far synthesised the current evidence concerning a possible relationship between problem gaming and suicidality. We therefore conducted a systematic review of the literature. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between problem gaming and suicidality. The review was funded by the Norwegian Competence Center for Gambling and Gaming Research. Methods The review was pre-registered in PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews (CRD42021279774). Searches were conducted in Web of Science, PsycINFO, EMBASE, PubMed and Google Scholar, September 2021. Studies that reported data on the relationship between problem gaming and suicidality, published between 2000 and 2021, and written in any European language were included. Studies investigating internet addiction/problematic internet use and not problem gaming, specifically, and studies investigating mental health in general or mental health outcomes other than suicidality, were excluded. Data from the included studies were extracted independently by two coders who also evaluated for risk of bias using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. The results from each included study were presented in a table. Results A total of 12 cross-sectional studies, with in total 88,732 participants, were included in the review. In total 10 studies investigated the association between problem gaming and suicidal ideation. One of these also investigated the association between problem gaming and suicide attempts. Two studies combined suicidal ideation and suicide attempts into one variable and investigated the association between that variable and problem gaming. In total 11 of the 12 included studies found positive, crude associations between problem gaming and suicidal ideation/attempts. Five studies adjusted for possible confounding variables. Three of these still found significant associations between problem gaming and suicidal ideation, one found a positive but not statistically significant association, and the fifth found an inverse, non-significant association. Discussion The current findings indicate that there is an association between problem gaming and suicidal ideation, and likely between problem gaming and suicide attempts. The most important limitation of the included studies is the lack of longitudinal designs. Future studies should aim to investigate the causality and mechanisms in the relationships using more stringent designs.publishedVersio

Demographics, Personality and Substance-Use Characteristics Associated with Forming Romantic Relationships

The current study aimed to identify demographic, personality and substance-use characteristics associated with forming romantic relationships. Data were collected by two online surveys among students in Bergen, Norway, during the autumn of 2015 (T1) and by a follow-up survey that was conducted 12 months later (T2). The current sample consists of the 2404 participants who reported being single at T1 (mean age 23.2) and who participated in both waves of the survey. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted. Separate analyses were conducted for both sexes and for the entire sample of participants. High extroversion scores predicted relationship formation. For women, having a child/children, higher scores on neuroticism, alcohol use and illegal substance use positively predicted relationship formation, while for men, age and openness were positive predictors. The study contributes with several novel findings. In general, characteristics related to a need for support predicted romantic relationship formation among women, while characteristics associated with increased resource acquisition potential predicted relationship formation among men. The general pattern of findings is in line with established evolutionary theories such as the sexual strategies theory and the parental investment theory.Peer reviewe

Screening and assessment tools for gaming disorder: A comprehensive systematic review

The inclusion of gaming disorder (GD) as an official diagnosis in the ICD-11 was a significant milestone for the field. However, the optimal measurement approaches for GD are currently unclear. This comprehensive systematic review aimed to identify and evaluate all available English-language GD tools and their corresponding evidence. A search of PsychINFO, PsychArticles, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar identified 32 tools employed in 320 studies (N = 462,249 participants). The evaluation framework examined tools in relation to: (1) conceptual and practical considerations; (2) alignment with DSM-5 and ICD-11 criteria; (3) type and quantity of studies and samples; and (4) psychometric properties. The evaluation showed that GD instrumentation has proliferated, with 2.5 tools, on average, published annually since 2013. Coverage of DSM-5 and ICD-11 criteria was inconsistent, especially for the criterion of continued use despite harm. Tools converge on the importance of screening for impaired control over gaming and functional impairment. Overall, no single tool was found to be clearly superior, but the AICA-Sgaming, GAS-7, IGDT-10, IGDS9-SF, and Lemmens IGD-9 scales had greater evidential support for their psychometric properties. The GD field would benefit from a standard international tool to identify gaming-related harms across the spectrum of maladaptive gaming behaviors.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Association between problem gambling and personality traits: a longitudinal study among the general Norwegian population

ObjectiveThe present study investigates the longitudinal relationship between problematic gambling (PG) and the five factor model’s personality traits using autoregressive cross-lagged models.MethodsThe data used in the current study was collected by a national survey in 2013 (n = 10,081) and a follow-up study (n = 5,848) in 2015. PG was measured using Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI) while personality was assessed using Mini-International Personality Item Pool (MINI-IPIP). Participants who completed the CPGI and all the personality items during both waves (n = 2,702) were analysed.ResultsThe results show that neuroticism had positive cross-lagged associations with CPGI. In contrast, conscientiousness and agreeableness in 2013 were found to have inverse cross-lagged effect on CPGI in 2015. Finally, openness and extraversion did not have any cross-lagged associations with CPGI.ConclusionPG poses serious negative implications for the involved individuals as well as their associated close social circle. Hence, it is important to understand predictors of PG for prevention purposes. Personality traits are one of the influential frameworks for examining uncontrolled psychopathological behaviors like PG. The study findings offer significant theoretical as well as practical implications